Opinion

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  Yes, I’m From Austria. And I’m Jewish. Next Question.

  When we first met we had many conversations like this one. “Help me place your accent,” you say. “I’m from Austria,” I answer. “Oh,” you reply, “My grandmother is from there. She left on a Kindertransport.” And then you add, “Vienna is supposed to be beautiful.” I notice some discomfort. I wonder if you’re wondering…

  By Anna Goldenberg

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  My (Israeli) Independence Report

  On the eve of Israel Independence Day last week, the blue and white balloons came cascading down from the balcony at Park Avenue Synagogue, New York City’s largest Conservative congregation. For a holiday that has enjoyed little star-billing in the annual American cycle, this “Community Celebration” organized by the Jewish National Fund was clearly a…

  By Abigail Pogrebin Apr 25, 2015 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Finding Your Way in the New Forward.com

  However long awaited or welcome any new arrival is, human nature makes us greet it with anxiety. In his 1925 “Resistance to psychoanalysis,” Sigmund Freud points to the rituals developed by farmers to mark the coming of spring as an example of the wariness with which we greet even the most vital and life-affirming of…

  By Dan Friedman Apr 24, 2015 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz My summer plans prove it: The Jewish Catskills are alive and kicking

  

• Rob Eshman ‘Remember the Liberty’ has become code for ‘Israel Is Evil’ 

  

• Dan Perry The Iran war ended terribly for the US, and even worse for Israel

  

• Emily Tamkin Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point

  

• Jay Michaelson When it comes to Israel/Palestine, everyone is sure that everyone else is a bigot

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Why GOP’s ‘Sheldon Adelson Primary’ Is Disgrace — and Won’t Lure Jewish Voters

  This weekend, a collection of GOP presidential candidates will arrive in Las Vegas for a meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition. Don’t allow yourself to be fooled into thinking that these candidates are making a real attempt to appeal to American Jewish voters. Their presence is all about winning over a single Jewish donor: Sheldon…

  By Debbie Wasserman Schultz Apr 24, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  In Stealth Move, Congress Backs Israeli Right’s War on Settlement Boycotts

  The finance committees of the House and Senate have approved amendments to a trade bill that equate boycotts of West Bank settlement products with boycotts of Israel, strengthening efforts by the Israeli right to silence opponents of West Bank settlements. Both committees approved the amendments unanimously. Each committee then approved its version of the trade…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 24, 2015 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Birthright Next Was Doomed From the Start

  Well, I hate to say I told you so. The news that Birthright Next is apparently winding down – its leadership is leaving, its flagship program is shutting down — has come as a surprise to many. But not to those who have followed the program closely, and watched its revolving door of talented staff…

  By Jay Michaelson Apr 24, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  For Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, Faith Was Life — and Life Was Act of Faith

  I remember Rav Aharon Lichtenstein often retelling the passage from the Talmud of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai’s death. The sage’s students surrounded him on his deathbed and asked for a blessing. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai’s odd response is this: May you fear God as much as you fear man. Shouldn’t we fear God much more?…

  By Abe Mezrich Apr 23, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How To Make Kidney Donors Whole

  The reason that Matt Swerdloff has only one kidney is a story that goes back a couple of years, when he visited a close friend in the hospital who had just donated one of his own organs. Why did you do this, Swerdloff asked his friend. To which his friend replied: Why don’t you? “I…

  Apr 23, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Francois Hollande Explains The Holocaust to Teenagers — Awkwardly

  What started out as an unusual debate on primetime television between French president Francois Hollande and five teenagers about to vote for the first time, took an even stranger turn when they argued for several minutes whether or not it’s OK to laugh at the Holocaust. The round-table discussion took place Sunday, during the and…

  By Jesse Lempel Apr 22, 2015 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  The Just Way To Share Water

  With Earth Day on April 22 and the unprecedented drought in California affecting the nation’s most populous state, there’s a Hasidic story about a frog that you should hear. The legendary founder of Hasidism, the Baal Shem Tov, or Besht, was wandering a vast desert when he met a frog so large, he couldn’t tell…

  By Dan Friedman Apr 22, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Lost and the Land: 2 Modern Holidays

  San Diego native Marla Bennett died in a school cafeteria in Jerusalem. She was killed in 2002 at 24, in a terrorist bombing by Hamas at Hebrew University, where she was pursuing an advanced degree in Judaic Studies. Nine people died, including 5 Americans. Nearly 100 were injured. “The year that followed was one of…

  By Abigail Pogrebin Apr 21, 2015 | 5 min read